Saouy, replied the king, I perceive plainly you
think it too great a sum; it may be so for you, though not for
me. Then turning to the chief treasurer, he ordered him to send
the ten thousand pieces of gold to the vizier's house.
Khacan, as soon as he came home, sent for all the courtiers who
dealt in women-slaves, and strictly charged them, that if they
met with a slave who answered the description he gave, they
should acquaint him. The courtiers, partly to oblige the vizier,
and partly for their own interest, promised to use their utmost
endeavours to find one to his liking. Accordingly, seldom a day
passed but they brought him one, yet he always found some fault
or other with her.
One day, as Khacan was getting on horseback, early in the
morning, to go to court, a courtier came to him, and, with a
great deal of eagerness, catching hold of the stirrup, told him
there was a Persian merchant arrived very late the day before,
who had a slave to sell, so surprisingly beautiful, that she
excelled all women that his eyes had ever beheld; and, as for
parts and learning, added he, the merchant engages she shall cope
with the finest wits and the most knowing persons of the age.
Khacan, overjoyed at this news, which made him hope for a
favourable reception at court, ordered him to bring the slave to
the palace against his coming back, and so pursued his journey.
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